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Collins optimistic Wright will return soon

Collins optimistic Wright will return soon

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MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- David Wright's fractured right pinkie finger was in a splint Wednesday morning. Ronny Cedeno started his second straight game at third base. And yet none of that stopped Mets manager Terry Collins from mustering hope for Wright's quick return.

"I just think David's going to be fine," Collins said. "I will not be at all surprised one bit to write his name in the lineup Friday. Not one bit."

That much was based more upon optimism than hard information. Wright saw a hand specialist Wednesday for a second opinion on his finger, which he fractured during Monday night's game against the Nationals. The Mets had no update on his condition Wednesday, other than a team spokesman calling the situation "status quo." Wright plans to return to the hand specialist on Thursday's off-day.

All Collins knows is that a fracture will not necessarily land Wright on the disabled list. The Mets will not make a decision to that end until Friday morning, prior to their next game in Philadelphia.

If Wright does land on the DL, it will represent just the latest in a long string of injuries for the Mets dating back to 2009. Wright, Johan Santana, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy and Jose Reyes all missed significant portions of last season due to injuries, with Wright and several other key Mets also sidelined this spring.

"In the year and few days I've been here, injuries have obviously been a major part," Collins said. "And obviously the year before, when I was the field coordinator, they were a huge part of what went on here. I hope to think it's part of the way the game's played by these guys, that it's maxed out.

"The thing that's killed us is the severity of the injuries. It's not two weeks. It's a three- or four-month process, which is really a tough thing."

Collins classified most of them as freak, unavoidable injuries, though that hardly makes them any more appealing. Still, with Wright hurt, there is nothing he can do but simply insert Cedeno's name in the lineup card and play the games as scheduled.

"I don't ever go the 'Woe is me' attitude," Collins said. "I don't play that. I don't ever want to go there. Certainly when you're riding home at night, you're thinking to yourself, 'How the heck can we keep these guys on the field?' But it's nothing we're doing wrong."